All posts tagged: interior design

An Accommodating Home

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“I’m passionate about my family,” Doreen tells me. “We are very lucky in that we really like each other and have something to say to one another. Every single member of the family has something to offer in the creative field. It may be different but it’s always interesting”. Doreen and her family live in an old, historic house, a former rectory in a leafy, quiet part of Gardens. That is, she shares it with Meyer her huband, their youngest daughter Olivia, who is still at university, and Jinja the dog. Their son Uno lives in Johannesburg, and another daughter, Jade, has recently moved out, but still lives in Cape Town. There is no doubt that this is a very tight-knit family, and a very creative and talented family too. It’s a beautiful, large house standing in a lush garden, with the majestic Table Mountain as a stunning backdrop. From the front door, a long, narrow corridor runs down the middle, with many rooms leading off it. A vast kitchen, a dining room, a couple …

Snapshots from Formex design fair

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I visited the 108th edition of Formex spring fair. The theme of this season’s exhibitions was “A World of Shapes“. The designer and exhibition architect Synnöve Mork was in charge of “Layout“, the exhibition at the main entrance. Specially invited to interpret the theme and to put together the actual content were interior design stylist Saša Antić, stylist Tina Hellberg and artist Cilla Ramnek. I wanted to keep abreast with the latest trends, but what especially drew me to the fair was the opportunity to listen to one of the world’s most famous trend forecasters, Li Edelkoort. I was not disappointed. She held a really inspirational talk about future lifestyles and trends. The essence of the lecture was that an antithesis to the digitised world is emerging, where a strong desire to return to tactile values is prominent. Handicraft and crafts in all shapes and execution are on the horizon, and evidence of this is here already. Take a peak at some of the goodies I found at the fair. Coarse textiles, crafts, wooden objects, organic shapes, rattan, …

Healing spaces

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Erika Krutzfeldt is a graphic designer and interior designer, and she lives in La Condesa, Mexico City. She shares her home with her cat Keiju, a Finnish name that means fairy. ‘Feel free to do whatever you want, but with moderation’ is advice that was passed on to her by her father and has now become a motto she tries to live by. Born in Mexico, Erika spent ten years living in La Paz, Bolivia with her family before returning to Mexico. She studied graphic design at the University of Guadalajara for five years and started working as one after that. Two years ago she went to Barcelona and studied interior design at a design school for one year. “When I came back I went to an astrologer,” she tells me. “The astrologer was a very old woman who lives here in Mexico City. She told me that I had a gift for healing spaces. That inspired me so much that my next project is going to be using this concept. Healing spaces to me …

Home Life Around the World

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I’m happy to announce that my book is now available for pre-orders in iBooks store and on Amazon. The book is to be released on the 15th of May. Home Life Around the World is about the relationship we have with that most private and intimate space – our home. Step into personal homes of architects, designers, photographers and other creatives. Food and art lovers. People passionate about the environment. All with their own stories and destinies. The homes are located in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Mexico City and New York. Richly illustrated with inspiring and honest photos of the home environment of these individuals, whose personality colour every image of the book. With personal and interesting texts based on interviews with the homeowners, who generously shared insightful thoughts and reflections about themselves and their homes, as well as their philosophy of life and their personal life stories. Release date 15th May. Home Life Around the World is available for pre-order. iBooks store https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/home-life-around-the-world/id1337131913?mt=11 Kobo https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/home-life-around-the-world-1 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Anita-Martinez-Beijer-ebook/dp/B079VDPBVF/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520413326&sr=8-3&keywords=home+life+around+the+world#customerReviews Kindle ASIN B079VDPBVF eBook ISBN 978-91-984455-1-0 Hardcover ISBN 978-91-984455-0-3 …

Palma in my heart

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What can I say. I love this town! It has everything really. It’s beautiful, cosmopolitan, vivid, has amazing cuisine, a wonderful climate, bags of culture, beautiful old buildings, a cathedral, old churches, a beach, the list goes on… As a wonderful coincidence my family is also here at the same time as I am. They arrive in intervals and we meet up a couple of times when I’m on my road trip around Mallorca. Here are some snapshots from Palma. Strolling around town and enjoying the ambience. Palma has some awesome architecture. Lunch at Duke. Heavenly salad. Cool small interior shop in La Lonja, Viveca. I really like chocolate ice cream and look what we found. Lucky me! More of these cool tiles, here at Hotel Cort. La Rosa is a wonderful place to have a few tapas before heading out for dinner. Having one of the best dinners ever here at Canela. The food is amazing! It’s the last night with this gang. Family, friends and a random guy. Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer …

Uruguay

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I arrive in Uruguay when the summer is starting to build up. After months of living in large cities I’m longing for the sea, beaches and nature big time. So I swiftly sidestep Montevideo when I arrive there with a ferry from Buenos Aires, and head to the bus station. The long-distance bus is packed to the rafters, but everyone is good-natured about it and in holiday mode. My destination is La Pedrera Rocha. Or more precisely, to the small settlement of San Antonio. Here I meet a vast and pristine beach with not a soul in sight, pine and eucalyptus forests and the lovely home of David and his beautiful daughters. They live in a big house that David purpose-built himself as a family home but also as a guesthouse or a posada as it’s called here. This hidden away and very private retreat is only reached by a dirt track through the forest. The house is nestled in the forest and the beach is only a short walk away. It’s made of simple but honest materials, wood …

Buenos Aires IV – Interior design gems

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As an interior designer I of course want to dip in to the scene and see what is on offering. There is a lot of nice interior design. Here is a pick of some of the stores I found in Palermo.  One of the coolest stores that just opened when I was living in Palermo Hollywood was Editor Market on Av. Dorrego. It’s the new hip place on the fashion and design scene. Set on three levels it houses interior design, clothing and a cafe. The interior design have in parts a distinct Scandinavian feel. The bench here is from Net. By chance I came upon the wonderful little store Enseres Bazar on El Salvador where I started talking to Barbara here in this photo, who is the sweetest of persons. Enseres is the place to go for a nice selection of cookware and accessories. I then met the owner of the store, photographer Cecilia, who kindly invited me up to the rooftop, as she was in the middle of a photo shoot in her studio there. And it …

Cape Town III –Quirky & trendy Observatory

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I moved to Observatory for the next couple of weeks. Named so because the South African Astronomical Observatory is here. Known as Obs to the folks here. Also known as a student neighbourhood because of the proximity to the University of Cape Town.  During the years of apartheid this was one of the few ”grey” suburbs where all races lived together. It still is a very multicultural area today, with a lively, quirky and bohemian feel to it. Though I can’t say I felt totally at ease when walking home at night here. Crime is a problem. Still there is an Observatory Neighbourhood Watch close by and they are working on making it a more safe area. Saying that nobody walks in general in Cape Town. Everyone takes their cars or Uber. Never taken so many Uber rides in my life as here. And due to that I had one of the most interesting conversations with a taxi driver ever! Who in the thirty minutes or so that it took to drive me to the airport …

Multifunctional living space

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Love the multifunction of a big table. When not used as a dining table, it can double up as a workspace as well. A great way to furnish when living space is limited. Instead of having furniture for various purposes divided in different areas of your home, do the opposite and have all the features in one place. Make sure that you have sufficient lighting. And add really comfy chairs. Then it also works as a nice spot to gather when friends visit and you can banish the sofa too.             Credits: http://www.homeadore.com/2014/02/13/eixample-residence-loox/